Why Hire a Meeting Consultant?

Our meeting consultants are professional, executive-level staff who can be ready at a moment’s notice. Meeting consultants provide flexible and affordable options to supplement your team or to lead our event. Select any question to find out why the professionals at Conference & Logistics Consultants are the perfect fit.

What Is a Meeting Consultant?

A meeting consultant is a professional who is hired on a contractual basis to fulfill the needs of a client planning a convention, conference, meeting or special event. Meeting consultants offer a wide variety of highly specialized services to clients, ranging from a one-time consultation to complete event management, on-site staffing and post-event evaluation.

As the client, you determine what responsibilities consultants will manage, their work schedule and those individuals with whom they interface. The consultant’s role is to ensure that you and your staff do not become over-burdened with details. You can utilize a meeting consultant like you would any other professional, such as a lawyer, or an accountant. You retain as much control as you feel comfortable with and let the meeting consultant do the rest.

Prepare a post-meeting critique to help you evaluate your meeting and determine what improvements/changes to make in the future.

Meeting planning consultants can help you avoid expensive mistakes. They can…

Assist in drafting a budget before you make any expenditures and help you to monitor that budget before, during, and after your meeting.

Draw from their years of seasoned experience to assess your needs realistically and show you how to fine-tune your meeting to best suit your financial and programming objectives.

Provide you with financial management services, such as collecting fees, holding money in escrow, approving and paying bills, etc. (typically for associations).

Should I Hire a Consultant? Will It Cost Me My Job?

“As organizations seek to control and reduce spending and as they work to improve output, outsourcing of functions is now a major trend.” — —The Meeting PROFESSIONAL, MPI 2005

… and, no, it doesn’t cost them their jobs.

In the months prior to a meeting, an in-house planner usually needs more staff than his/her budget allows. Sometimes there is a short-term project that requires more time and attention than a single planner can devote.

There are many ways in which an independent planner can serve as an adjunct to your own staff. You set the terms, the extent of the independent planner’s involvement, and the duration of his/her contract. You determine the degree of autonomy or interdependence on you and your staff.

Consultants are there to make you look good. They won’t cost you your job. Making a smart decision to outsource will convince upper management that you are a smarter manager! You’ll come out ahead because you’ll get the job done even though your department may be understaffed and overworked! You will also have the time to implement any long-awaited new programs.

How Much does It Cost To Hire a Meeting Consultant?

Meeting planning consultants bill for their services in the same way as other professional consultants; hourly, daily, per project, or on an annual retainer. Just as you pay your attorney or accountant to help you solve business problems, so will you pay a professional meeting consultant.

A knowledgeable and capable meeting consultant is experienced in managing special requirements and can maximize your return on investment.

You are paying for the consultant’s time and experience in having done these things before, or, in some cases, for the consultant’s time and effort in determining how your particular problem/challenge can be better handled. It is important to make sure that you and your consultant have the same basic understanding of the scope and nature of your meeting and the tasks at hand.

You will find that the consultant saves you money because he/she knows how to accomplish the tasks that need to be performed for your meeting more economically and in a shorter amount of time, resulting in a better managed meeting. To learn more about how to earn rebate money to pay for Conference & Logistics Consultants’ services, please visit our Commission Rebate page.

Sure, C&LC provides great logistics planning. But what’s most important for our association is that the C&LC staff expend the time and energy to understand the Society and our members and apply that understanding to our most important event of the year.They care about our image and success, and they’ve contributed significantly to building both.

Society of American Archivists

Your knowledge of meeting planning and management has helped us produce the most successful conference ever.

Council of Administrators of Special Education

C&LC helps clients pay for their services by redirecting hotel commissions. High quality service paid for by others is hard to beat.